US vs. Europe vs. Third World Part III
The view of what is proper role of government is different in the US and EU. It is also very different between countries inside the EU, for example much Great Britain and France. It would be unmerited to decide on one between the US and EU of where government plays a more significant role. It can be said that in the US the government has a more active role in censorships of cultural deviant media and behavior, insider trading regulation, drug enforcement, and safety and workplace regulation (OSHA) than in Europe. In the EU the government plays a more significant role in social, economic and environmental policy.
You can easily see the difference in US and European media by visiting the regions. In the last Superbowl in the US there was a huge outrage when a “costume malfunction” revealed a breast of Janet Jackson on national television. In Italy and France you see women’s breast in national television in body lotion commercials without causing any uproar at all. When you visit Hamburg or Amsterdam you’ll observe how culturally deviant people and establishments and the normal population are able to live together in peace. Differences can be seen in deviant practices like prostitution, which is legal in most Western European countries, while it is a crime in the most US states. This can lead to a conclusion that European lifestyles are much more liberal than US lifestyles. In some Scandinavian countries there have recently been a lot of partnerships without marriage.
Insider trading is the number one white collar crime in the US. Only in the US is insider trading such a big deal, in France there are few laws on the issue. According to RW Grant, “In Great Britain insider trading was not addressed until 1980, since then there have only been a handful of convictions and no prison terms.” Is insider trading regulation fair since the other party to the trade was going to buy (or sell) anyway? That is, if they didn’t buy from insider trader (person with the most perfect information), they would have bought from someone else and had resulted in the exact same position no matter who they bought from. This is an example of ideological law, where an exact victim cannot be identified. But rather the crime is committed against an abstract greater good. For Marie Antoinette in 1793 that abstract greater good was it was “the revolution”, but it can also be for the Fatherland, the party, the workers. The crime should not be the act of trading on more perfect or inside information, but the way in which that information was obtained. If it was stolen, then you would have an invasion of private property. But if it was simply whispered by a company director or employee, then the problem is solely between the company and the employee/director.
You can easily see the difference in US and European media by visiting the regions. In the last Superbowl in the US there was a huge outrage when a “costume malfunction” revealed a breast of Janet Jackson on national television. In Italy and France you see women’s breast in national television in body lotion commercials without causing any uproar at all. When you visit Hamburg or Amsterdam you’ll observe how culturally deviant people and establishments and the normal population are able to live together in peace. Differences can be seen in deviant practices like prostitution, which is legal in most Western European countries, while it is a crime in the most US states. This can lead to a conclusion that European lifestyles are much more liberal than US lifestyles. In some Scandinavian countries there have recently been a lot of partnerships without marriage.
Insider trading is the number one white collar crime in the US. Only in the US is insider trading such a big deal, in France there are few laws on the issue. According to RW Grant, “In Great Britain insider trading was not addressed until 1980, since then there have only been a handful of convictions and no prison terms.” Is insider trading regulation fair since the other party to the trade was going to buy (or sell) anyway? That is, if they didn’t buy from insider trader (person with the most perfect information), they would have bought from someone else and had resulted in the exact same position no matter who they bought from. This is an example of ideological law, where an exact victim cannot be identified. But rather the crime is committed against an abstract greater good. For Marie Antoinette in 1793 that abstract greater good was it was “the revolution”, but it can also be for the Fatherland, the party, the workers. The crime should not be the act of trading on more perfect or inside information, but the way in which that information was obtained. If it was stolen, then you would have an invasion of private property. But if it was simply whispered by a company director or employee, then the problem is solely between the company and the employee/director.
posted by LA Samayoa at 5:51 PM
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